When in the Pacific Northwest, one must make hay while the sun shines, so to speak, because the sun doesn't shine very often in winter! Shari (my sister) and I arrived on a Monday. As tired as we were, we would have liked a day to rest up, but Megan (my daughter) took one look at the weather forecast for the area and decided that we really needed to take advantage of the clear weather for Tuesday and Wednesday if we wanted to see anything.
A word about weather forecasts in the Seattle environs. The geography and topography of the area, with ocean and two mountain ranges all around, Seattle has what I term micro-climates similar to Northern California. (In CA, one can travel from sunny and mild, to cold and snowy mountains, then down into hot desert valley in less than a hundred miles.) Considering Seattle's northern latitude and proximity to Canada and Alaska, the climate is quite mild in winter, controlled by ocean currents and mountains. It doesn't get too cold in winter or too hot in summer, and snow is rarely ever much. The winter days are a full hour shorter on daylight than in the Midwest because the sun never rises in the sky much above where it would be at 2:00 or 3:00 PM at home, and there always seems to be moisture in the air so that the streets never really seem dry. (Black ice is a problem.) I watched morning TV weather forecasts. They talked about how things would be near Puget Sound and how things would be in the mountains...and again how things would be in the valley (where the Seattle suburbs are). At the end, I would think, "That's okay, but what is the weather supposed to be here??" Apparently, with so many geographical features driving the weather, getting an accurate forecast is a bit of a crap-shoot.
Thus, on Megan's recommendation, we went out touring on our first full day there. (Tuesday.) With clear skies, we hoped to get a good view of the Seattle sky-and-coastlines and maybe get a good view of Mount Rainier. We drove to the ferry that would take us across the Sound to Bremerton, WA, where the Navy shipyards are. (Our family had docked there when returning from Japan in 1958.) Neither Shari nor I had been on a car-carrying ferry boat since we lived in Coronado, CA, many years before in our youth. It brought back a lot of memories!
We got some skyline pictures with us as we pulled away. Rainier was visible but not clearly. (It's awesome to see!) In Bremerton, we drove around a bit, stopped for a late lunch at a little Mexican cantina, then headed back to the ferry. It wasn't a COLD cold day. Let's just say it was crisp. The inside of the ferry, the car, and the house felt pretty good! Got home just after the grandchildren returned from school, ate dinner, and just died when we laid our heads down for the night! Shari and I were pooped!
The next day (Wednesday) was also sunny and crisp. It was December 7th--Pearl Harbor Day, and Shari's 75th birthday! We spiffed up and were out the door by 10:00 AM for a long-planned 11:00 brunch reservation at a high-end restaurant at Snoqualmie Falls in the Cascade Mountains. We drove up and up and up...from no snow to mountains totally covered with it. The evergreen boughs were heavy with snow, and the drive was absolutely gorgeous! Of course, as we got closer to the falls area, a cloud of fog settled over everything and we couldn't really see the falls!
I have to say, Shari looked like a million bucks! (Denis, my son-in-law, took one of the best snapshots of her that I have ever seen!) Our server sprinkled real rose petals on the table all around Shari's spot and the ordering began. Meals in the PNW are specific to the PNW. Home made honey; fish for breakfast; goat cheese and fresh eggs from free-range chickens, etc. Not your common Midwestern fare. Megan and Denis shared a HUGE breakfast for two with several courses. Shari and I ordered separate meals, and we all had a mimosa toast for the Birthday Girl. It was elegant...and expensive. (Happy Birthday, dear sister!)
On our way back down the mountain, we stopped at Snoqualmie Pass at a little trading post in a ski area for a bathroom/souvenir stop. A little farther down the road, the snow was gone, and we were back to normal. Another big day for two ol' ladies whose bodies still hadn't adjusted to Pacific Standard Time. We slept well!
The next day, Thursday, was the third performance of my granddaughter's play. The final performance and cast party was to occur the next night, Friday...but Robin sprang the notion that she needed to go shopping for a Secret Santa gift for one of the cast members in between getting home from school and having to go back for makeup, etc. Nobody was really ready for that. Shari and I had prepared an early supper just to accommodate schedules. Megan has an online business, and the holidays are her busiest time, so she had to be doing other things. We dropped Robin off at school then went to Target to find SOMETHING that would suit for a Secret Santa gift and so Shari could pick up some needed things. Then back to school for the performance.
I'll never understand this, but Leota Junior High School has entrance to its rooms from the outside. As in, REALLY...the outdoors. Kids move from class to class outside, even in winter. I don't get it. Anyway, when we arrived, Ryan (my grandson) wanted to sit front-and-center, which put Shari and me close to the outside door. Needless to say, we got cold because they left the door open for people to enter, etc..... The play, The Election, was both funny and cute because, even though it was written before this year's presidential election, the parallels were obvious. The audience was clapping and laughing at lines that would not normally be funny were it not for how well they went along with the 2016 election. Robin did a great job. I was so proud! And when we left, it was snowing to beat the band...but we stopped at Menchie's for self-made frozen yogurt sundaes. They were trying to close by bringing in outdoor furniture and left doors open. Those of us who were cold got even colder...and then we discovered that Ryan had left his brand new $200 coat in the auditorium at school! We went home anyway.
The next day, Friday, we awoke to a whopping one-and-a-half inches of snow on the ground. And school was called off!! Hard to believe for this ol' teacher from the Midwest. The neighbor kids were out making snow angels and having snowball fights. I guess it was the first measurable snow in two years. Yay! Friday's play performance had to be rescheduled. I don't remember much about the rest of the day...only that it was the first real action break Thelma and Louise got!
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Monday, December 26, 2016
Seattle Trip, Part Two
My sister drove over from Springfield, IL, a day ahead of time to accompany me on our adventure to Seattle. She packed and re-packed, having not flown since before 9/11, and hardly knowing what to take because the climate in the Pacific Northwest is...well...just different from the Midwest.
The first leg of our flight was to leave for Chicago Midway at 7:00 AM, which meant that we needed to be at the airport by 5:30 AM. Ugh! I had booked a cab, but my neighbor volunteered to take us in my vehicle since he claims he is always up by 4:00. Fred calls himself my nosy neighbor. He and his wife have lived in their house across the street for far longer than I have lived here. He has a key to my house and does so many little things to help me out...and this was one of them. Saved us close to $30 in cab fare and tip! We only live 10 minutes from the airport.
Fred was on time. He dropped us off at the curbside check-in for Southwest Airlines and drove off. The Skycap took one look at our itinerary and said he had to take us inside to the ticket counter. I was confused because that hadn't happened to me before. After the fact, he informed us that Midway Airport was closed due to bad weather in Chicago. We were re-ticketed for Kansas City, which wouldn't leave for quite awhile. That meant that, instead of arriving in Seattle before noon, we would get there late-afternoon. It also meant that we didn't have to arrive at the airport so blasted early in the morning!
The rest of the trip went without a hitch. Our baggage arrived in Seattle with us. We had no problems with security. And when we touched down, my family was there to meet us at the baggage claim area to take us home to their house in Bothell, WA.
Of course, our bodies were still on Midwest time. Megan (my daughter) knew we would be hungry since their clock didn't say the same time that our stomachs did, so she had a spread of hors-d'oeuvres, from shrimp cocktail to crackers and spread, nuts, snacks--you name it. And then we had an early supper of hot soup that was just what the doctor ordered.
Meg and Den had also thought of every detail in setting up a room for my sister and I. Our bedroom was actually what would normally be the living room--the first room in the house when you enter the front door. They had brought down my grandson's single bed with brand new bed linens and had made up the futon for me. They had put the TV and clock up high where both Shari and I could see it and arranged a table for us to have back-to-back computers, and two night stands together for our matching nebulizers. There were boxes of tissues everywhere and surfaces on which to put our luggage. They had a matching Christmas stocking with Shari's name embroidered on it hanging from their mantel. (I already had one.) There was even a Santa Claus candy dish with candy in it and tissue boxes scattered all around for my miserable nose!! It was all just really special and showed how very much work they had done just to provide for two old ladies who would reside with them for 15 days!
To be honest, I had worried for weeks that Shari would not be able to sleep well in the same room with me because I don't sleep well...and I snore...and need the TV on all night. If I can believe what she says, that never became a problem. She says she slept very well and was never bothered....nor was I...with our differing sleep patterns. It worked out. Hallelujah!
The first leg of our flight was to leave for Chicago Midway at 7:00 AM, which meant that we needed to be at the airport by 5:30 AM. Ugh! I had booked a cab, but my neighbor volunteered to take us in my vehicle since he claims he is always up by 4:00. Fred calls himself my nosy neighbor. He and his wife have lived in their house across the street for far longer than I have lived here. He has a key to my house and does so many little things to help me out...and this was one of them. Saved us close to $30 in cab fare and tip! We only live 10 minutes from the airport.
Fred was on time. He dropped us off at the curbside check-in for Southwest Airlines and drove off. The Skycap took one look at our itinerary and said he had to take us inside to the ticket counter. I was confused because that hadn't happened to me before. After the fact, he informed us that Midway Airport was closed due to bad weather in Chicago. We were re-ticketed for Kansas City, which wouldn't leave for quite awhile. That meant that, instead of arriving in Seattle before noon, we would get there late-afternoon. It also meant that we didn't have to arrive at the airport so blasted early in the morning!
The rest of the trip went without a hitch. Our baggage arrived in Seattle with us. We had no problems with security. And when we touched down, my family was there to meet us at the baggage claim area to take us home to their house in Bothell, WA.
Of course, our bodies were still on Midwest time. Megan (my daughter) knew we would be hungry since their clock didn't say the same time that our stomachs did, so she had a spread of hors-d'oeuvres, from shrimp cocktail to crackers and spread, nuts, snacks--you name it. And then we had an early supper of hot soup that was just what the doctor ordered.
Meg and Den had also thought of every detail in setting up a room for my sister and I. Our bedroom was actually what would normally be the living room--the first room in the house when you enter the front door. They had brought down my grandson's single bed with brand new bed linens and had made up the futon for me. They had put the TV and clock up high where both Shari and I could see it and arranged a table for us to have back-to-back computers, and two night stands together for our matching nebulizers. There were boxes of tissues everywhere and surfaces on which to put our luggage. They had a matching Christmas stocking with Shari's name embroidered on it hanging from their mantel. (I already had one.) There was even a Santa Claus candy dish with candy in it and tissue boxes scattered all around for my miserable nose!! It was all just really special and showed how very much work they had done just to provide for two old ladies who would reside with them for 15 days!
To be honest, I had worried for weeks that Shari would not be able to sleep well in the same room with me because I don't sleep well...and I snore...and need the TV on all night. If I can believe what she says, that never became a problem. She says she slept very well and was never bothered....nor was I...with our differing sleep patterns. It worked out. Hallelujah!
Friday, December 23, 2016
Seattle Trip in Pieces--Part I
My sister (from Springfield, IL) and I were booked to fly to the Seattle area to visit my daughter and family for a couple of weeks. It was her first trip by plane anywhere since 9/11, and my second trip to the Pacific Northwest this year.
Shari (my sister) is more mobile than I, but she has COPD as I do. In short, she could not have walked the airports without having to stop and catch her breath every whipstitch. I, of course, could not have walked the airports at all due to back problems. We were slated for handicapped support. Thank God for the wheelchair pushers! Some are better than others, but my two experiences flying to Seattle have shown the Indy pushers to be the best. The dude that was pushing us from our flight in after 10 PM was pushing our TWO wheelchairs simultaneously and pulling our TWO carry-on bags behind him. (Not sure how he did that!!) When we got to the baggage carousel, he had called for help because we had three checked bags between us, plus the two carry-ons. When we got to the curb, the additional dude went out and stopped traffic to let our taxi in. We tipped both of them handsomely!
When we got back to my little house-on-a-slab, the driveway was slick with ice from the previous storms. We managed to get stuff in the house, then collapsed with some wine. Home!
One of my sister's friends on Facebook had dubbed us "Thelma and Louise"...after the movie (that I never saw)...but I played it up on FB. When we were deplaning at one point, the flight attendant that was escorting me off the plane wasn't flustered at all when I mentioned that she should take my sister next because we were traveling together. She joked, "I've got ya, Thelma. I'll go back for Louise in a second." She had no clue...but it was funny!!
The taxi trip from Indy International to my house is about $20 and 10 minutes. Totally worth it! Home to the heartland. Love it, yet still miss my experience with my Seattle family.
God provides!
Shari (my sister) is more mobile than I, but she has COPD as I do. In short, she could not have walked the airports without having to stop and catch her breath every whipstitch. I, of course, could not have walked the airports at all due to back problems. We were slated for handicapped support. Thank God for the wheelchair pushers! Some are better than others, but my two experiences flying to Seattle have shown the Indy pushers to be the best. The dude that was pushing us from our flight in after 10 PM was pushing our TWO wheelchairs simultaneously and pulling our TWO carry-on bags behind him. (Not sure how he did that!!) When we got to the baggage carousel, he had called for help because we had three checked bags between us, plus the two carry-ons. When we got to the curb, the additional dude went out and stopped traffic to let our taxi in. We tipped both of them handsomely!
When we got back to my little house-on-a-slab, the driveway was slick with ice from the previous storms. We managed to get stuff in the house, then collapsed with some wine. Home!
One of my sister's friends on Facebook had dubbed us "Thelma and Louise"...after the movie (that I never saw)...but I played it up on FB. When we were deplaning at one point, the flight attendant that was escorting me off the plane wasn't flustered at all when I mentioned that she should take my sister next because we were traveling together. She joked, "I've got ya, Thelma. I'll go back for Louise in a second." She had no clue...but it was funny!!
The taxi trip from Indy International to my house is about $20 and 10 minutes. Totally worth it! Home to the heartland. Love it, yet still miss my experience with my Seattle family.
God provides!
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